Random Friday

1. It's finally starting to resemble winter here in Minnesota (although it was 46!? degrees here on Tuesday), and my daughters decided to dress up their magnetic doll for the cold weather. I thought they did pretty well considering the wardrobe consists only of ballet costumes. My daughter got very concerned when she realized we didn't have any mittens for the doll. I suggested shoes, which she thought was a brilliant idea. Now if it's ever so cold here that I need to start wearing shoes on my hands and face and flowers in my hair to keep me warm, it might be time to consider a move...or at least a wardrobe update*.

2. I made these no-bake chocolate chip granola bars this week.  They were easy to throw together and turned out pretty good. I made all kinds of changes (subbed bran flakes for rice cereal and added coconut, cinnamon, and pecans) trying to get them to resemble my favorite cookie dough and found I needed to refrigerate them for a good long time before I could get them to set up like bars (our first taste we ate from bowls with spoons). I was happy with my first attempt at making granola bars. I'm still not a fan of honey though, so I think I'll try out a different recipe next time.  

3. My three-year-old loves to talk about God and asks me all kinds of questions. One morning this week:

(In response to her sister's roar) Oh no! A lion! Mom, call God. 

Mom will you ask God to pick up our house so we can dig for dinosaur bones under it?

Mom, does God have good hearing?

*After last Friday's Random, you'll be happy to know I did by a new stocking hat at Target this week. It's not fancy, but it is pink and it was only $1.40.

Crunchy Birthday Cookies

When I was a little girl, I'm guessing around 5, I received this birthday card with a recipe for Crunchy Birthday Cookies. I love these cookies. They are scrumptious, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, hearty, full of texture and yum, and the cookie dough pre-baked is pretty much the best thing ever. Not that you should eat raw cookie dough. But I do. Actually I read somewhere that you can buy pasteurized eggs. I've never tried them, but the next time I'm pregnant and get a craving for cookie dough, I might give them a try.

*I forgot the baking soda in this photo.

I love that a birthday card included a recipe. And a recipe new to the family. It's become an heirloom recipe, and those are few and far between in our house.

I'm tempted to eat all of this.

Crunchy Birthday Cookies

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 egg (well beaten)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. dry oatmeal
1 c. corn flakes (I use bran flakes)
1/2 c. coconut
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Cream butter; add sugars, then egg and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture. Add corn flakes, oatmeal, coconut, and pecans to mixture. Roll into small balls and place about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Will make approximately 3 dozen cookies.

Don't over-bake them or the coconut starts to burn. Enjoy!

Yum. Yum, Yum. Yum.

This post is featured in Eat At Home's Dry Cereal Ingredient Spotlight.

My New Favorite Potato Soup

Last night I was thinking about what I could make for supper. With a trip to the grocery store planned for later that evening, the refrigerator was relatively empty, and I was feeling uninspired. I had a handful of potatoes left from our garden harvest and some frozen diced leftover ham. I started searching the Internet for a creamy potato and ham soup. I scored when I found Christy Jordan's Southern Plate's My Favorite Potato Soup recipe. I'd say that's the perfect name, as it's now my favorite potato soup.  I didn't have any whipping cream, so I used Christy's suggested substitution of evaporated milk. I also added a stalk of chopped celery. I only wished I'd had some green onion and bacon to top it off. Yum!

Potato soup is a big comfort food for me. The smell of it cooking on the stove brings me back to lunch at my grandparents' house when I was a kid. I also love that it's simple and easy. My photos don't do this recipe justice. Click the link above to see a truly delicious photo. My husband usually isn't drawn to potato soup like I am, but he loved this recipe, had seconds, and declared it the best potato soup he's ever had. I had to guard the pot just to make sure there was enough for me to have leftovers today.

Snow Ice Cream!

I first saw snow ice cream last winter, but I kept forgetting to put a bowl out ahead of time to catch snow. We got six inches of snow Saturday, and in the anticipation of our first "big" snow of the year, I actually remembered and put two big bowls out on our deck.

There are several "recipes" out there for Snow Ice Cream.  I decided to go with Paula Dean's recipe.  I had the sweetened condensed milk in my pantry stocked for fall baking.  Here are the details:

1. Take 8 cups of snow.

2. Add 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk.

3. Add 1 tsp. of vanilla.

4. Mix and serve.

In the photo above I hadn't added all of the snow.  When I first read the recipe, I actually thought it called for 5 cups instead of 8 cups. I ended up adding more snow because it was so soupy.  Then I checked the recipe and realized what had happened.

My girls were thrilled to try snow ice cream.  I thought the flavor was surprisingly comparable to store-bought vanilla ice cream.  After we sampled the vanilla, I added a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the rest of the batch.  It was really good, reminding me of a Wendy's Frosty. Yum! In fact, scooping this into a cup and drinking it with a straw sounds like a great idea.  Of course the texture is icier rather than creamier, but that's not the point.  The point of snow ice cream is to give your kids yet one more reason to look forward to a large snowfall.  As if they need another reason!

Now if we could only figure out how to make snow ice cream on a hot summer day...

Singing, Baking, and Making Merry: The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

After reading this post from my friend Bethany yesterday, I decided I wanted to make a conscious effort to get into the Christmas spirit.  I knew we had snow on the way, and after a relatively snow-free November (I'm not complaining!), I was ready for things to start looking a little less like Thanksgiving and a little more like Christmas.

Funny Thanksgiving story: After a long day of celebrating and no nap to speak of, my almost two-year-old daughter fell asleep on a trampoline WHILE her cousins were jumping on it. I knew exactly how she felt.

Back to Christmas! So I cranked up the Children's Christmas Radio Station on Pandora and decided to bake some cookies. Listening to a new talker sing Jingle Bells: Cutest. Thing. Ever.  This was the first time I had my youngest help out with the cookies (I usually save baking for nap time), and she did a great job.  Somehow sibling rivalry was kept to a minimum and both girls were happy taking turns dumping in ingredients. I modified the Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe subbing in 3/4 cup white chocolate chips for chocolate chips since I'd had a partial bag sitting around.  I used dark brown sugar because for some reason I'm often blinded in the baking aisle and grab dark instead of light.  And I baked them at 350 instead of 375 simply because I turned on the oven and then forgot to check the recipe for the baking temp.  Fortunately the cookies turned out delicious!  For some reason it took me 31+ years to figure out that I like cookies slightly undercooked and to consciously make them this way.  I also liked how the white chocolate chips toned down the sweetness of the cookie without sacrificing chunky goodness.  I have found my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe! My husband agreed. He was super curious what I did differently and actually said they were the best he's ever had. I call that a win!

The original recipe yields 5 dozen cookies, or so it says.  I think I ended up with just over 2 dozen.  Where did those other 3 dozen cookies go?  Are the Hershey's people making tiny cookies?  Are they not sampling the cookie dough?

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1-1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cups white chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely or until you can't wait another minute. About 2 dozen cookies.

So as the sun was going down last night, my three-year-old and I shoveled a few inches of snow from our driveway. Someone in our neighborhood was enjoying a fire in their fireplace (thank you wood-burning fireplace-owning neighbors; that smell is home to me), and we are a couple snowy steps closer to Christmas.

Pumpkin Roundup

photo credit: DrBacchus

Here's a blog post I didn't expect to write. But tis the season. I've been busy pinning pumpkin recipes on Pinterest over the last few weeks. I've stocked up on pumpkin because I always read that it can be hard to find (although that's never been the case for me). Here's a list of pumpkin recipes I've made recently or hope to make soon!

When we carved pumpkins this year my husband was adamant that we roast the pumpkin seeds. Scratch that. He was adamant that I roast the pumpkin seeds. The last time I roasted pumpkin seeds was a project in my kindergarten class. No, I am not a teacher. I was a student in kindergarten. Needless to say, the details were fuzzy. I searched Tasty Kitchen, a great resource for recipes, and found Simple Comfort Food's The Best Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. It looked like a classic recipe, so I gave it a try. Before even eating the roasted seeds, I googled whether you're supposed to eat the "shell." Apparently it's up for debate. After attempting to avoid the shell a few times I gave up and just started tossing the entire seeds in my mouth. They had a salty little burnt cheese meets popcorn flavor that was pretty tasty. We actually have two pumpkins that we painted instead of carved, and I'm considering opening them up just so I can roast some more seeds.

Today my daughter and I made these hearty Pumpkin-Walnut Oatmeal Squares with Cinnamon Glaze from Bake Your Day. Technically I guess mine were Pumpkin-Pecan Oatmeal Squares as that's what I had on hand. They have oats, applesauce, pumpkin, and honey, so I've convinced myself they're totally healthy. I failed on the glaze, however, using three tablespoons of milk instead of teaspoons, which I promptly remedied by dumping in another two cups of powdered sugar. So much for being healthy! I will say as a person who doesn't like the taste of honey, it is noticeable in the finished squares.  But I suspect for most people that wouldn't be a problem.

Before I started baking this morning I considered trying this Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping, but then I realized it had canned pumpkin pie filling instead of pureed pumpkin. I'm a sucker for a streusel topping, however, so I'll have to pick up some pumpkin pie filling and give it a try later. I guess I could try making my own substitute if I get ambitious.

This is the other recipe that caught my eye. These Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting from Sweet Pea's Kitchen look delicious. I probably would have made them, but somehow I convinced myself that with all the Halloween candy I've been eating this week the cream cheese frosting wouldn't do me any favors. And remember the Pumpkin-Walnut Oatmeal Squares are healthy! (right?)

I've never made a trifle, nor do I own a trifle bowl, but if I did and I had to make a fall trifle it would probably be this Low-Fat Pumpkin Trifle from Janelle at Comfy In the Kitchen via Women Living Well Ministries. And can I tell you how excited I am to learn you can buy boxed spice cake? I don't know why, but that excites me.

While our squares were baking in the oven, I remembered reading once that a dump cake can be made with almost any canned fruit (or vegetable in this case...I think). That led to some googling and to this recipe for Pumpkin Dump Cake from Cookies and Cups. Note to self: buy evaporated milk ASAP! 

And finally, this list wouldn't be complete without Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter Dessert Squares.  Hands down they are my favorite pumpkin dessert.  You may have been lucky enough to taste these if you've been in a Williams-Sonoma store this time of year.  They sell the Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter called for in the recipe and generously had out free samples of the squares (knowing full well the samples will lead to big sales).  It's one of the few reasons I will venture up to the Mall of America.  Totally worth it, I might add.  I did attempt this recipe one year with pumpkin butter from a local orchard and mixed with crushed pecans.  It was passable, but I recommend the real thing if for no other reason than avoiding having to figure out the correct amount based on different jar sizes.

My daughter would like to add: "What about Pumpkin Pie Pancakes?" That sounds brilliant. Google, don't fail me now!

And for today's trivia: Did you know allspice comes from the allspice plant? It's not some spice mix along the lines of pumpkin pie spice. I didn't know that. My mom didn't know that. My aunt didn't know that. We discovered this last spring in the spice room of the Como Park Conservatory. It kind of blew our minds. But you probably knew that.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

This past week I've somehow managed to keep a perfect work/kids/house/socializing balance.  It's a rare thing around here.  I've had just a couple of hours of work each day, the weather has been beautiful, and the girls, the hubby, and I have been getting outside a lot.  We even found a park that is perfect for a 19-month-old and an adventurous three-year-old.  That was a good find! I had family stop by last week for a visit and have more family coming for most of this week, so I cleaned house and then recleaned it, but it only took a couple hours the second time!  I even did a little spring cleaning.  It's not too late, right?.  I found a great tip at Make It Do and cleaned our mattress, washed some screens and windows, vacuumed blinds, and spent three hours scrubbing the grout in my kitchen floor (I hate this job and only manage to do it twice a year).  A friend and I went to a spa event that included wine and mini treatments all for $10.  Did I mention the wine?  It was such a fun and girly evening--just what I needed.  With the slowing of work, my husband and I have resumed our near-nightly ritual of HBO series watching.  We wrapped up season 3 of True Blood and are almost through season 4 of The Wire.  I've also been harvesting yummy things from my garden.  My green beans finally came in, and I picked a big batch and froze some.  I'm up to my eyeballs in cucumbers.  I've got tomatoes, I'm still getting zucchini, and I (big smile, here) picked my first of about 10 watermelons.  It was probably a little early, but it was totally edible.  Love it!

So what a better way to celebrate a perfectly balanced week than by baking something delicious!  I originally intended to make these cookies, but once I started grabbing ingredients I realized it made a huge number of cookies.  I know myself well enough to accept the fact that I can't keep 4-5 DOZEN cookies around for long, and I didn't want to think too hard about halving the recipe (I may try it someday).  Also, I liked the idea of skipping the whole scooping and baking in batches step, so I searched for a peanut butter brownie? blondie? recipe.  I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars at Bake at 350.

I did make a few accidental changes.  I used 7 tablespoons of butter instead of 6, and I doubled the amount of peanut butter it called for.  Oops!  I also used a mixture of peanut butter chips and milk chocolate chips, because that's what I had.  My brownies came out soft in the middle and brown on the edges.  I think more chocolate chips rather than peanut butter would have made a nice difference.  So I recommend following the recipe. These bars are very rich. I can only eat one small bar a day, but my husband said he didn't notice. Of course he could eat peanut butter by the spoonful. He also told me I need to get the bars out of the house before he comes home from work today.  I guess that means they're really good!

I hope each of you has a week full of balance, peanut butter, and chocolate!

Zucchini Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Like every good midwestern gardener in August, I've got an abundance of zucchini.  I've been expecting this, and I've been keeping a list of potential recipes as I've seen them.  When I saw this zucchini carrot cake with cream cheese frosting from Tiffany at Eat at Home, I knew I wanted to give it a try.  I've always been a fan of carrot cake, and I expected zucchini could only make it better.  It does!

I used zucchini I had shredded and frozen earlier in the week.  As I've been warned, there was quite a lot of liquid in the thawed zucchini.  I wasn't exactly sure whether I should drain it first or just add it in.  I did a quick search online and saw most people omitted the liquid when using frozen shredded zucchini, but a friend of mine had suggested I add the liquid.  The cake batter looked pretty dry, so I ended up using about half of the liquid. 

This frosting is really, really good.  Emphasis on really.  You've been warned.  I was generous with the frosting, and I still had plenty left over, so I guess you save it for another baking project.

Also this week, I cooked up this Betty Crocker recipe for zucchini meat loaf.  It uses 2 cups of shredded zucchini in place of other liquid (my usual recipe calls for milk).  It was good.  And an easy way to get my non-zucchini eating daughter to eat zucchini.  She did notice the green bits and asked about them, but I told her they were tiny pieces of green beans, a vegetable she likes. Yep, that's me lying to my daughter!  It totally worked.

I've got zucchini cakes (think fritters), zucchini boats, cheesy baked zucchini, and zucchini quesadilla recipes bookmarked and ready to try. My go-to zucchini is just sauteed in olive oil with onions, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Yum!  So how do you use up your zucchini?

Early Garden Harvest Pasta

Last night, after spending a little time in my garden, I had a typical first harvest--a lot of odds and ends but nothing substantial of any one thing: 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, a handful of green beans, exactly 3 pea pods worth of peas, and 1 zucchini.  I decided to throw it all together into a yummy pasta.

While the pasta cooked, I microwaved some bacon and sauteed the green beans. I threw in some onion flakes (sad) because I was all out of onions.  Then I added the zucchini to cook for a few minutes.  Once the pasta was cooked and drained, I threw in the cooked veggies and bacon, adding some chopped cucumber, chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, and olive oil. I stirred everything together and added a little salt. You can eat it right away, although I prefer to refrigerate it overnight and serve the next day.  It's better the second day when everything is cool and crisp and fresh and the flavors have mixed together.  I do wish I'd had some onion and maybe a green pepper, but my peppers plants are pitiful this year.   

In full disclosure, despite the abundance of noodles, my daughters were not big fans of this meal.  My three-year-old said she likes "soft" green beans (i.e. canned). She did appreciate the bacon, however.  Don't we all?  Personally, I loved it.  I ate it up and had seconds. It's a great light, fresh, cool meal for a hot summer night.

By the way, if you're like me and hate frying bacon on the stove and don't like heating up your whole house to bake it in the oven, this is a great alternative! It's the only way I cook bacon. In fact, I specially requested it for Christmas several years ago. My parents have one too. (Not an advertisement, I just really like it!!)

Got Brown Bananas?

We don't seem to have overripe bananas very often.  It may have something to do with the preschooler and toddler.  They've never met a banana they didn't like.  Therefore, despite buying a bunch of bananas once or twice a week, we still never have extras.  On the rare occasion that we do, this is my go-to recipe. 

Grandma Schmidt's Banana Bread recipe was included in a collection of recipes my friend Bethany gave each of her bridesmaids as a thank-you gift.  Of course she did them all cute on colored note cards held together by a removable clasp.  This was a crafty, thoughtful, and inexpensive gift that would be suitable for several occasions.

The ingredients:

Notice my husband bought Country Crock sticks instead of butter the last time he went to the grocery store.  I'm not complaining; I didn't have to go to the store with the two little ones in tow.

Grandma Schmidt's Banana Bread
1/2 c. butter or oleo
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in mashed bananas.  Mix in combined dry ingredients and add nuts.  Pour in greased and floured 9x5x3 in. loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

At three, my daughter likes to "help" out in the kitchen.  I put her to work mashing the bananas.  Isn't that apron adorable?  I got it at our town's Crazy Daze this week.  It was $8.  It was clearly handmade. Totally cute and a great deal!

I baked it a little too long today. Next time I'll make sure to stick on the shorter side of the bake time.  I love this recipe because it's simple, easy to quickly throw together, and includes ingredients I almost always have on hand. Also, it's delicious, and my girls always love banana bread for a snack.

The Perfect Iced Tea Concentrate: The Rule of Three

It's summer!  It's warm out.  It's sunny.  We're lazing the days away by the pool.  OK, maybe not.  It's cloudy, cool, and rainy here today, and I've been working at my computer nonstop for weeks.  But technically it IS summer.
To me summer means iced tea.  My mom is a big tea drinker.  She likes her tea black and straight, only occasionally (and regrettably in my opinion) reverting to her Southern roots and adding in sugar.  I remember back to my childhood getting regular phone calls from her during the day, asking me to get a jug of tea started and outside in the sun so it would be ready when my parents got home from work.  It's not uncommon for my mom to comment on the quality of iced tea she's had when talking over her day.  And yes, a meal can be a total disappointment when the tea is bad.

She's been a big fan of the tea at the cafe in her local Barnes & Noble.  I hear repeatedly how good it is.  Despite being across town, I know for a fact she eats lunch there regularly, and I'm fairly certain it's only because she loves their iced tea.  She does that.  She chooses a restaurant based on the quality of their tea.

If my mother were to pass down to me one recipe, one creation that completely encompasses who she is as my mother, it would be the recipe for good iced tea.  When I was back home visiting my parents a few weeks ago, my mom excitedly told me she had perfected the "recipe" for good iced tea.  (She had made an earlier attempt during my last visit home but had missed the mark.  She didn't quite have the flavors and proportions figured out.)  She described the process, and I tasted the new tea.  It was good.  Really, really good.  She told me the secret: the rule of three.  She learned the process carefully watching her friends at the B&N cafe and taking mental notes.

If you like plain, black iced tea, I highly recommend the recipe below. It's not fancy.  It doesn't call for tea leaves.  You can use your microwave. I suspect you could play around with the tea varieties if you're so inclined, add some lemon, make it a hard iced tea, or even (blech!) add some sugar.  It's not sun tea, but on a cloudy day like today, I'm just fine with that.  It's a concentrate, so you can save some room in your refrigerator.  But most importantly, it's a delicious, refreshing, and guilt-free summer drink!

Perfect Iced-Tea Concentrate
1 quart jar full of water, microwaved (or "nuked" if you're my mother) until very hot. 
Add 2 bags Earl Gray and one bag black tea. 

Steep until really strong (2-3 hours), ignoring the dirty patio table.

Remove tea bags and refrigerate.

When you're ready to drink, remember the rule of three: Fill your glass 1/3 with concentrate, 1/3 water, and 1/3 ice.  Mom says if you want to get fancy you can use a shaker to shake it.

Enjoy! And if it's really good iced tea, it might just make you feel like this!

Sinfully Good Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Last Friday I had an exceptionally busy day.  I had work to do, a house to clean, groceries to shop for, dinner guests to entertain and cook for, and (completely separate from the dinner guests) my sister and her family were house guests for the weekend.  For a girl who is lucky to get dressed in real clothes during the day, it was a lot. 

I survived (with a couple hours of help from my babysitter--love her!).  I got my work done, cleaned the house, bought the groceries (with both girls in tow), prepped food, showered, and actually "got ready"!  This was all very exciting.  I went with a pretty simple meal: grilled t-bones, hamburgers for the kids, baked potato wedges, salad, and watermelon.  Yum!

My original plan for dessert was to buy some of that pre-made cheesecake filling, use a pre-made graham cracker crust, and plop some strawberries on top.  Easy peasy.  Unfortunately (or not) my grocery store doesn't carry that cheesecake filling stuff, so in the middle of the grocery store (again, girls in tow), I used my phone to track down a recipe I had read that morning in a blog.  Mind you it was not a blog I subscribed to (I do now; it's fabulous!), and I had gotten to it from a maze of other blog links.  After much searching, I was very happy to find the recipe and quickly picked up the ingredients.

And here it is: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.  No pictures from me, I'm afraid...I had a lot going on!  But they are every bit as delicious as they look in the link.  The middle layer has the consistency of those school lunch peanut butter bars (am I imagining these?) but, of course, these are a millions times better. Rich and dreamy.  I followed the directions exactly, except I couldn't find the Minis the recipe called for, so I bought Miniatures and chopped them into quarters.  The dinner guests, the house guests, and my family loved them.  I hope yours does too!